Dr. Giovanni K. ZorziCurrent: Researcher Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre, RGS Brazil |
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| Email: | gzorz_01@uni-muenster.de | |
MCGS Project: Development of copper-loaded chitosan nanoparticles for plant protection
10.2011 to 09.2012 Postdoctoral fellow in Prof. Dr. Moerschbacher's group
Dr. Giovanni Zorzi (the second MCGS post-doctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Moerschbacher) established a protocol for the large scale generation of chitosan nanoparticles, in collaboration with the group of Prof. Goycoolea, and their loading with copper ions. These were then tested for their antimicrobial and plant disease protective activities, on lab, greenhouse, and field scale, in collaboration with a German and an Indian company, Spiess-Urania and SriBiotech, respectively, and with Prof. Kumar at Pantnagar University in Northern India (as part of the first Indo-German Public/Private Partnership “2+2” proposal CuChi-BCA). We are currently exploring chitosans with non-random patterns of acetylation for their ability to form nanoparticles, in collaboration with the group of Prof. Goycoolea, and these will then also be tested for their bioactivities, in collaboration with Sven Basa and Anne Vortkamp.
After one year as an MCGS post-doctoral researcher, Giovanni switched to the Indo-German CuChi-BCA project, before finally moving back home to Brazil where he is now starting his own independent research group at the University of Rio Grande do Sul.
